Under pressure after a Dravidian group ridiculed hymn on Lord Skanda, Tamil Nadu Police have got at least 500 videos blocked after deeming them to be anti-Hindu and hurting religious sentiments.

The blocking of the videos follows the arrest of four people belonging to Karuppar Kootam (black group/mob) who had come out with a video ridiculing the Kanda Sashti Kavacham, which is recited by Tamil Hindus almost daily invoking Lord Muruga’s total protection.

A special police team of the Central Crime Branch viewed these videos and decided to block them, the Times of India reported.

These videos have been blocked from public view though the YouTube channels that produced these have not been blocked. Police said YouTube is yet to respond to its letter to ban the channels.

No further details on the videos that have been blocked are available.

In Tamil Nadu, led by the Dravidar Kazhagam (DK), the Hindu religion, its gods and seers have always been ridiculed by those owing allegiance to the movement or its supporters.

In fact, DK founder E V Ramasamy, better known as ‘Periyar’, has termed those who worship god as “fools”. It is another matter that he has also called Tamilians “barbaric people”.

In the Kanda Sashti Kavacham issue, police have registered a case of intent to cause riots, causing disharmony or feelings or enmity, hatred between religious, racial and language groups, defiling place of worship besides others such as instilling fear in the public’s mind.

Police booked a case over the video ridiculing Lord Skanda and arrested four people after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) filed a case with the Greater Chennai Police Commissioner and staged protests in various parts of the state.

On 16 July, a protest was also staged by people across the state by reciting the Kanda Sashti Kavacham. The disrespect to the Lord Skanda, considered as Tamil god, has resulted in an outrage across the state — an indication that perhaps Dravidian forces have gone wrong in this case.

Most political parties in Tamil Nadu chose to be silent. While the ruling All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) reacted a little late on the issue, the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) chose to react only after allegations of its involvement in the video.

The AIADMK and DMK have chosen to react, albeit late since they would not want to risk losing Hindu votes with elections to the state assembly due in May next year.

Petition Against Videos Insulting Hindu Beliefs

Meanwhile, advocate K Charles Alexander has petitioned the Madras High Court to restrain social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube from allowing content that insult Hindu beliefs.

The advocate has pleaded that the court direct the Centre to take action against these social media platforms.

In his petition, Alexander said though these platforms have clearly stated that content that is derogatory and spreads hatred should not be uploaded, many ignore the conditions.